Study: Cell Phones Increase Brain Activity

Transcript by Newsy.com

BY BRANDON TWICHELL



You're watching multisource health news analysis from Newsy



Hold the phone - away from you? A new study confirms cell phones increase activity in the brain cells nearest to the phone. But no one knows for sure if all that brain activity is healthy - or lethal.

We're picking at your brain with coverage from Fox News, NBC, Discovery News, and The Washington Post.

Check out how the study worked. 47 people, each with a cell phone strapped to each side of their head for 50 minutes. One was off - the other was muted. The results? A seven percent increase in activity in the brain cells closest to the muted phone. (Video Source: NBC)

A doctor tells Fox News even though no link was found between cell phone use and disease, increased brain activity from cell phones isn't healthy.

"Like anything else, any kind of motor, if you think about how diseases get, you know, get produced, is by the cells, you know, overutilizing energy, multiplying rapidly."

But some scientists are skeptical of long-term damage. A doctor and a scientist share their thoughts on NBC's Nightly News.

MICHAEL WEINER: "There's nothing in this paper that suggests that cell phones have any adverse effect or harmful effect on the brain."
ROBERT BAZELL: "Most physicists who study radiation have always said that cell phones could not cause brain tumors or other health problems."
ROBERT CAHN: "The cell phone doesn't emit enough power to be damaging the human body."

A bioengineer tells Discovery News there are too many variables to accurately measure the brain's activity.

"[C]ell phones emit more radiation when a person is talking ... Radiation levels also change depending on the phone type, the distance to the nearest cell phone tower and the number of people using phones in the same area."

Finally, an opinion writer for the Washington Post takes a satirical jab at the study, saying texting is the way to go.

"Since getting a cell phone, at least 7 percent of my brain has continually been active wondering whether anyone has sent me a text message...Without my cell phone, I am lost. With it, I am also lost, but I can text somebody."

The authors of the study say more research is still needed.



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